


Deep web

by Mihaelgayhl



Category: Death Note
Genre: Hitman AU, Oneshot, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-05
Updated: 2015-06-05
Packaged: 2018-04-03 01:04:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4080637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mihaelgayhl/pseuds/Mihaelgayhl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Forty eight hours remaining - M</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deep web

It had started as a rumour.

Like many other things which quickly become common ‘knowledge’ during high school years, it started with a small group of people spouting off as if it were fact, after all everyone had a cousin whose friend had tried it or their uncle’s babysitter’s first wife’s best friend. Therefore it was no shock when these claims reached Matt’s ears.

“Did you guys know there’s a deep web? Like apparently search engines only bring up about five percent of the internet and there’s things hidden underneath that. EBay for drugs, real beheadings, sex slaves, real nasty stuff. The police can’t do shit about it apparently, it’s so hard to trace computers or even find these websites.”

“That’s complete shit, everyone knows they can trace your IP address and find you pretty quickly.” A classmate interjected at the excited young man who had a small crowd around him.

“Okay so you are traceable but it’s hard. They do transactions in bitcoins, it’s like a fake currency so no banks are involved and you can buy all sorts of stuff on there, guns, drugs, women, whatever you want!” The crowd let out a few worried murmurs at the declaration, Matt twisted in his seat leaning a little closer.

Matt had heard many stories about weird websites before, ranging from putting someone’s name into a generator so a demon would come and take their soul, to a Japanese woman giving birth to an octopus. It was always intriguing after all, something that came with shock factor or just out curiosity’s sake, to do it just for the sake of doing it and bragging rights if you managed to endure the whole thing.

It sounded perfect.

The room was dark that evening as Matt sat in front of a blue tinted screen, the room was silent except for the slow steady hum of a computer which crackled every now and then as it tried to process something slightly heavier than just browsing the web. Tabs were squashed together at the top bar of the browser as Matt clicked through them, lingering on some for longer than others. The rumour of the deep web had peaked his interest and in theory it made sense, after all phones were easy to tap, stories were making the news every week about yet another phone tapping scandal by a newspaper on some B list celebrities phone, so why not use the web for illegal activities? It would probably be a lot safer bar the likelihood of getting a virus as one article suggested, another suggesting to either remove or turn off your webcam as they were frequently hacked whilst on the deep web.

A downloadable browser called Tor caught Matt’s eye, as simple to use as internet explorer once installation was complete and allowed access once you knew a URL. Matt hovered his mouse over the OK button to confirm download, lip caught between his teeth.

“Fuck it.” He said to himself, clicking the button before grabbing the cup of coffee on his desk and leaning back in the swivel chair, watching as the empty bar on the screen began to turn a bright green. He sipped at the coffee in the soft glow of the computer screen, the bitter aftertaste of slightly over roasted beans coating his tongue leaving an almost metallic tang in its wake. The bar filled and disappeared into a small program file at the bottom of the screen, Matt sat his mug back on the desk with a clack as the china hit glass and opened the file, prompting it to install. It wouldn’t be a lengthy wait, unlike the time he had attempted to install forty three gigabytes of data on a computer which only screeched in protest, lights flickering, error sounds popping up over and over again. That was a hard install, he had managed it after a night of swearing under his breath and frantic typing as he altered the coding before swearing even louder as he butchered the game completely.

The computer beeped happily as it announced the installation was successful. Matt clicked the OK button and watched as the program opened. It was a simple browser program with the word Tor written across the top in purple, the ‘O’ being shown as a purple onion.

The URL bar remained teasingly blank, a blank canvas just itching to be scribed upon, promising passage to worlds thought only to exist in action movies. But only if you knew the code. Only if you could figure the seemingly random sequence of letters into the correct fit. Matt’s shoulders sank, disappointment bitter on his tongue as the smell of heated machinery wafted throughout the room lazily.

He exited the program and returned to the message boards. Someone had to have an answer. It didn’t take Matt long to find a workable URL which he typed into the program in excitement. The poster had said it was a link to a directory of URL’s for first time Tor users. The page loaded in slow increments, making Matt tap his finger against the desk impatiently. It was as if it was 1999 all over again, the pain of suffering a dial up modem however, was nothing compared to the agony of the wait as slowly but surely links began to appear. Matt clicked on one of the links, waiting again for the page to slowly load, eyes glued to the screen with fierce intensity.

The page was black except for two small boxes which had the words written next to them, name and location. Matt shrugged and entered his details, pressing the enter key which took him to the next page, which was again, blank except for the white text.

_Confirmed. Payment obtained once task is completed._

Matt stared in confusion, what payment? He didn’t accidentally sign up for something expensive, he would be chopped down in cold blood if he was spending money he didn’t have never mind whatever it was that he had just confirmed. The screen flickered briefly as it reloaded, a new message appearing.

_M is locating. Termination in forty eight hours._

Termina-what? Matt pressed enter again to see if any other messages would appear, but nothing happened except the browser shutting itself down. Slightly panicked Matt shut the computer down and unplugged it, the room became uncomfortably silent, the soft glow of the computer monitor swallowed in the darkness. Matt shook his head and climbed into bed, he had class in the morning.

The morning was the same as ever, eat breakfast, brush teeth, shove on uniform and shout bye to the still asleep mother upstairs. His goodbye fell on deaf ears every morning for the past ten years, but he still never failed to say it. It was routine now, just like the mile walk to school. It was all hills, uphill to get there and uphill to get back but Matt never minded when it was sunny. Fluffy clouds drifted across the light blue sky and Matt took a deep breath of the crisp morning air.

_Bang_

It was a muted nose, like someone had tried to cover up a lit firecracker with their hands. He felt something whizz past his ear, his hair moving with the sudden rush of air. Matt’s heart stilled in his chest, muscles seized in fear as his head turned to see the compacted piece of metal embedded in the wall. Matt had never seen real bullets before, he had seen them in his games, sure, laughing over the mic as he scored another headshot on the opposing team but never like this. His breath caught in his throat as his feet finally caught up with his mind, running behind a car and ducking down. His phone buzzed in his pocket, a message from a restricted number.

_Attempt one unsuccessful. Thirty seven hours until termination. – M_

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a university assignment, so I'm not happy with it. I would write a few more chapters but I hate staring at it. Feedback appreciated!!


End file.
